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Sunday, August 2, 2015

Mawpran a sleepy village near the Indo-Bangadesh
border has been transformed as the strawberry village of East Khasi Hills, next
to Sohliya village in Ri-Bhoi district which has become a tourist destination.
With the formation of the Mawpran Strawberry Association in the year 2008-09
and through the intervention by the State Horticulture Mission under the
National Mission for Horticulture Development for North East India and the
Himalayas (Now a component under the MIDH), farmers have been nudged towards
taking up commercial scale horticulture to improve their livelihoods. As part
of the intervention, the farmers were also encouraged to take up apiculture and
bee rearing to improve the production of strawberry. Bees are known to improve
the amount of fruit harvested by about 10% in field trials conducted in UK.
Pollination by bees is also found to improve the shape and size of the
strawberry fruits thus translating to better marketability.

Food security is also intrinsically linked and
supported by pollinators, of which the humble bee is one of the most
important.Many fruits, vegetables,
plantation crops, nuts and seeds depend on animal pollination of which the honey
bee and the bumble bee are well known for their roles. Many wild species of
bees are also captured and reared by farmers and bee keepers in Meghalaya
mainly for honey extraction. But the indirect beneficiaries are the vast
stretches of horticulture and fruit plantation especially in the villages of
Nongtrai, Tynger, etc. situated in the Indo-Bangladesh hill tract in which a
single bee keeper is able to produce as much as 20 kg to 125 kg of honey per
year. (D.Marngar and R.D Lyngdoh, 2014)

Bees are diligent pollinators of fruits and seed
crops. All plant reproduction requires the transfer of pollen from the anthers,
or male part of the flower to the stigma, or female part of the flower either
on the same plant or on separate plant. During a single day, one bee may visit
several thousand flowers, of one plant species, collecting nectar and pollen
and at the same time continuously transferring pollen grains from one flower to
the next. Many variety of fruit trees need cross pollination and specially hybrid
crops for commercial production creates a special need for cross pollination by
insects/bees. Some crops are self pollinated but nonetheless give better yields
through pollination by insects or bees. Adequate pollination by insects/bees
also ensures that early flowers set seeds, resulting in uniform and early
harvest .

In India, the National Bee Board is the nodal agency
for registration of bee keepers and farmers for traceability, formulating
standards for honey and bee-hive products, capacity building, training and
advisories. It also provides free registration of bee-keepers and well as
provides assistance and support through various agencies like Khadi Village and
Industries Board (KVIB), Indian Council of Agriculture Research (ICAR), State
Agricultural Universities (SAU), State Horticulture Mission (SHM) etc.

Bees sustain
horticulture by allowing crops and wild plants to reproduce. A world without
these pollinators would lead to the breakdown of the vital function of
reproduction or fruit plants and crops, thus leading to extinction of many plant
species. The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) has recognized pollination as a
key driver in the maintenance of biodiversity and ecosystem function. The system
of hiring and renting honeybee colonies for apple pollination is being
practiced in Himachal Pradesh to improve production.

As bees fly from one flower to the next, not only do
they collect nectars from flowers but alsothrough their pollinary activities ensures future sustainability of
generation to come for food and crops. Pollination is the one significant
economic value derived from bees. Plants and bees are interdependent and need
each other for survival and procreation.

The Ministry of Agriculture, Government of India has
started a restructured centrally sponsored scheme, Mission for Integrated Development
of Horticulture(MIDH) during the 12th Plan for the holistic
development of horticulture sector covering fruits, vegetables, spices,
flowers, aromatic plants etc. One of the mission support component of MIDH is
“Pollination Support through Bee Keeping” as one of the mission intervention.
Honey bee will be used in the mission as an important input to maximise
agriculture/horticulture production. The responsibility for co-ordinating the
bee keeping development program in the State will be vested with the State
Designated Agency, in this case which is Meghalaya SFAC. National Bee
Board(NBB) will be responsible for providing technical support, implementation
of promotional programs relating to bee-keeping and co-ordinating bee-keeping
activity in the State. Assistance will also be available to the state on
development of nucleus stock of bees, bee breeding, distribution of bee colony
hives and bee keeping equipments.

Table
1.Cost Norm and Pattern of Assistance
under MIDH during XII Plan

In a case study No. 10 by Uma Partap, ICIMOD, Nepal
titled “Cash Crop Farming in the
Himalayas: The importance of pollinator management and managed pollination”,
it reported on the impact of honey bee pollination on fruits and vegetables.

Studies have shown that honeybee pollination
enhanced seed production and quality of seed in various vegetable crops such as
cabbage, cauliflower, radish, broad leaf mustard and lettuce (Partap and Verma,
1992; 1994; Verma and Partap, 1993; 1994). These results confirm the usefulness
of bee pollination and its role in increasing crop productivity and improving
the quality of fruits and seeds.

Conclusion:

Besides producing honey, bees can increase crop
production to the tune of 10-25%. Crops in the State like peach, plum
strawberry, limes, oranges and vegetables like cucumber, cauliflower, pumkin,
pepper benefit from this insect. Under MIDH and Apiculture Mission under the
IBDLP, there is great scope to increase adoption of apiculture by farmers both
as a livelihood option as well as improving the production of various
horticultural crops in the State. The
bee has been rightly called the farmer’s friend and with the State moving
towards organic practice, organic honey produced from Meghalaya may be the next
sought after product in the near future.

(The Writer is
working as Senior Agriculture Development Officer (Information), Department of
Agriculture, Meghalaya and can be reached at csshabong@gmail.com)

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